NOAA/NMFS has published a final new document the agency calls Technical Guidance for Assessing the Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing—Underwater Acoustic Thresholds for Onset of Permanent and Temporary Threshold Shifts.
According to NOAA/NMFS, this document:
“provides acoustic thresholds for onset of permanent threshold shift (PTS) and temporary threshold shifts (TTS) in marine mammal hearing for all sound sources. It is intended to be used by NOAA analysts and managers, other federal agencies, and other relevant user groups/stakeholders to better predict how a marine mammal’s hearing will respond to sound exposure. The manner of response has the potential to trigger certain requirements under one or more of NOAA’s statutes (MMPA, ESA, and National Marine Sanctuaries Act).”
